High-precision aberration retrieval with a scanning quadrant detector and gradient-based evolutionary particle swarm optimization algorithm

• DOI: 10.1364/ao.558453
• Publication Date: 2025-04-07T18:01:27Z
• Authors: Zuoyu Liu; Zhangchen Liu; Shuqiang Li; Ruipeng Li; Haiyang Chai; Yongkai Liu; Furui Lv; Yatian Li; Jiabin Wu; Shijie Gao

During the application of the quadrant detector (QD) system, the performance degradation of the optomechanical structure due to long-term application leads to aberrations in the QD optical system, causing spot distortion and then reducing the QD detection accuracy. Therefore, monitoring the imaging quality of the QD optical system is crucial, as it serves as the key prerequisite for further calibration of QD detection errors. Additionally, phase retrieval and calibration techniques for optical systems provide novel approaches for both post-assembly detection of optomechanical systems and monitoring the optical system’s on-orbit status. In this study, based on the high stability of the self-calibrated light source inside the system, a method of inversion spot energy distribution based on QD scanning is proposed for the first time to our knowledge, and a hybrid EPSO-SPGD phase diversity algorithm is constructed by combining the evolutionary particle swarm optimization algorithm (EPSO) and stochastic parallel gradient descent (SPGD) algorithm to realize the retrieval of aberration of a QD optical system. Simulation and experimental results show that the proposed method exhibits high accuracy and robustness under different noise levels. Under specific conditions, the relative error of phase retrieval is below 2.5%, demonstrating a significant performance advantage over traditional algorithms. This provides a reliable and effective technical solution for the health monitoring of QD optical systems.